The Daily Signal - Liberals' Proxy Voting Push Allows '4.5% of Congress ...Decide What Bill Gets Passed,' McCarthy Says

Episode Date: May 20, 2020

Democrats passed proxy voting in their fourth coronavirus recovery bill on Friday. "Instead of 435 [people] representing districts across the nation... 20 people control all of Congress," says House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, referring to the effect of the Democrats' proxy voting push. "Each member can call up to 10 proxies," McCarthy tells The Daily Signal Podcast. "So if the Democrats have 20 people, all holding 10 proxies, they can pass any bill." He adds, "This is about bringing back the voice of the American public. ... Now that voice isn’t even being heard because just 20 people decide what passes and doesn’t." We also cover these stories: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicates his support for Sen. Lindsey Graham's call to subpoena Obama administration officials to learn what they knew and didn't know about surveillance of the Trump campaign. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls President Trump "morbidly obese" in response to the news that he is taking hydroxychloroquine. "I know the president wants to see those folks that go back to work to get a 7.6% cut in their payroll tax," says top Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Wednesday, May 20th. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Rachel Del Judas. Democrats passed proxy voting and their fourth coronavirus recovery bill on Friday. What is proxy voting? How does it take power away from the American people and give it over to a select few legislators who cast votes on behalf of their colleagues? House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joins me on the Daily Signal podcast to unpack what all this means. Don't forget. If you're enjoying the same, podcast, please be sure to leave a review or a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Now, onto our top news. Senate Republicans are actively seeking the truth regarding the involvement of Obama-era officials in the investigation of the Trump campaign's

dealings with Russia. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said on Monday that on June 4th, he will ask the Senate to vote on a broad subpoena that would allow the committee to demand documentation and seek testimony from a number of Obama-era officials who were involved in the launch of the investigation regarding the Trump campaign and Russian collusion. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday in support of the subpoena via the Hill. Just yesterday, Chairman Graham announced the Judiciary Committee will vote on a serious new set of subpoenas so the Senate can hear directly from key players like James Call me. Andrew McCabe, Loretta Lynch, and many others to continue getting to the bottom of this.

So let me say that again. Senate Republicans are taking steps to issue new subpoenas to a wide variety of Obama administration officials with some relationship to the abuses I've just laid out. The American people deserve answers about how such abuses could happen, and we intend to get those answers. How Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Trump out for his weight on Monday, saying that she doesn't think Trump should be taking hydroxychloroquine, the drug that treats coronavirus. Here's what she had to say via CNN. As far as the president is concerned, he's our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say,

weight group had what is morbidly obese, they say. So I think it's not a good idea. Hydroxychloroquine was first used to fight malaria in the 1950s as the daily signals Fred Lucas reported. It was also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Individuals usually take a total of 10 pills as a part of a four to 10 day regimen and the doses tends to be two pills for five days. It is currently being studied for use of treating COVID-19, not preventing it. The medicine can also cause serious side effects, including fatal heart arrhythmia, vision loss, headaches, dizziness, and stomach pain. President Trump would like to cut the payroll tax by 7.6% to help ease Americans' economic tensions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, according to White House economic

advisor Larry Cudlow. During an interview with Fox business, Cudlow said, per Reuters, I know the president wants to see those folks that go back to work to get a 7.6% cut in their payroll tax, so their after-tax take-home pay goes up. Cudlow also said that the president would like to bring some companies back to America that have moved overseas, and that further steps towards economic relief could include a payroll tax holiday, a capital gains exclusion for several years, and a tax deduction for business spending at restaurants per Reuters. The White House Economic Advisor also said to reporters, I'm being vague because I can't commit.

I'm just saying here's what the president has talked about. Here are some of the items he has talked about. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said Tuesday that employers to decide not to go back to work won't be able to receive unemployment benefits. If you offer a person a job and that person does not take the job, then that person would not be allowed to get unemployment, Mnuchin said. CO2 emissions have fallen by 17% due to nations around the world experiencing lockdowns during the coronavirus, according to a recent report by nature climate change.

Emission levels in April of 2020 are back down to levels not seen since 2006. But the study does state that most changes observed in 2020 are likely to be temporary, as they do not reflect structural changes in the economic transport or energy systems. As life begins to return to normal, the study predicts the annual emissions decrease for 2020 to be somewhere between 4.2% and 7.5%. Now stay tuned for my conversation with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about what you need to know about Democrats' push for proxy voting. We need standard bearers in Washington, D.C.

I'm so proud to work at the Heritage Foundation, where our mission is to have, sensible solutions to every issue that arises in this nation. The coronavirus is no exception. That's why the Heritage Foundation started the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission. The Commission's goal is to save lives, but also the livelihood of millions of Americans impacted by this virus. To do this, the Commission has released several recommendations to help our nation's leaders navigate us, through this crisis and move toward a recovery. Log on to www.com.com to track the commission's recommendations and to see what our recovery

plan looks like. Again, that's www.com.com. I'm joined today on the Daily Signal podcast by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Congressman McCarthy, it's great to have you on the Daily Signal podcast. Thank you very much. I'm glad to be on. Well, thanks for being with us. So in Democrats' fourth coronavirus recovery package, they passed vote by proxy,

and you have been very outspoken about what they're trying to do here. What is your perspective on all of this? Well, it's to take power away. We have 435 members that represent the entire United States. Districts are cut up evenly. We do a census every two years. Why? Because each district loans their voice and power to their member of Congress.

Now with a proxy vote, instead of 435 representing districts across the nation that could be held accountable, 20 people control all of Congress. Because each member can hold up to 10 proxies. So if the Democrats have 20 people, all holding 10 proxies, they can pass any bill. Now, how can that constituent's voice be heard? How can that person be held accountable? When you can see that Nancy Pelosi can sit in her office, write the largest bill that's ever been voted on in the history. of Congress, never going through one committee, never being questioned, except coming directly to the floor with no other options. And when you look at the bill, it mentions cannabis more than it

mentions jobs. I mean, it's cash for cannabis with nothing to do with COVID. Well, in the floor speech, you had called this the most significant power grab in the history of Congress. Can you unpack this for a little bit? What did you mean by that? What it does, it gives more power to the speaker because it goes to against directly what our founders believe. Our founders would be ashamed because they expect us to assemble. If you're on Capitol Hill right now

and you simply walk two blocks away, you can go to Starbucks and get a coffee or a tea. You can walk 100 yards away from the House and you could see the Senate meeting. The only place that's not meeting is the House itself. Why? Because it provides more power to Nancy Pelosi to write a wish list for liberals

inside our own office and just bring it to the floor. $3 trillion with no one even seeing it beforehand, no committees having input into it. And that's why when you look at the bill itself, what did it do? It talked about pot. It talked about prisoners. It politicized federal elections. It prioritized illegal immigrants.

And it talked about pensions. Nothing to do with COVID itself. So looking at their vote by proxy provision, can you detail, for us for people who don't know, what would this do? How would this change Congress? If you could say, you know, three or four things, what vote by proxy does? What proxy does, it gives the power away. It lets the power rest with only 20 people. It cannot be held accountable. And what's so sad about this, just a few short weeks ago, Speaker Pelosi said, actually on our floor, we are the captains of the ships. We are the last to leave. But proxy voting calls on Congress to actually

abandoned the ship would be the first to leave for months or even possibly the rest of the session. So members never have to come back. And this is more than about just opening a campus. This is about bringing back the voice of the American public. They are the ones who gave the voice to their constituents. But now that voice isn't even being heard because just 20 people decide what passes and doesn't. How would proxy voting change historical precedent? Well, it goes against everything, which I believe is unconstitutional. How can 20 people determine there's a quorum if the people are not here? Any bill that would be passed via proxy that determined a quorum what I would believe wouldn't stand.

The constitutional challenge. Proxies themselves, think for a moment. You have a constituency. You go to your member of Congress and you want them to represent their district. but they pass their vote to another member who's never been there, never heard from them, and they get to cast that vote. So how could, since you mentioned that, how could vote by proxy especially affect more moderate Democrats who sometimes do cross the aisle to work with Republican counterparts? How could that specifically affect them? Well, how it would affect them personally, I'm sure Nancy Pelosi will get their votes.

So they may be a moderate or say they are, but they're going to give their vote to the vote to the vote. liberal wing of the party and they're going to have no say. They don't have an ability inside a committee to change the course to make the bill different or better. It only comes to the floor. And they have no control over beating back because one member stands up there. Here's 10 votes to your one. So with proxy voting, could a member choose who gets to cast their proxy vote or is it basically chosen for them? They can choose. But what do you think the speaker is going to be able to do? The speaker's probably going to choose for them if they cannot come back. If they're on the floor and we're bringing up a debate, a different amendment to change the bill and others, they have no say.

The proxy gets to determine how the vote goes. So does proxy voting, does it essentially pave the way for an electronic remote voting system completely? Well, it also puts in there that people can just stay home. And this goes against what I believe everyone wanted and the founders. They wanted members to assemble. They wanted members to work. If you remember Roger Sherman, now he is the only founder to sign all four great state documents. He said this in 1789.

When the people have chosen a representative, it is his duty to meet others from different parts of the union and consult and agree with them to such acts as are for the general benefit of the whole community. Now, Sherman is right, especially in a pandemic. Our presence is important. We are essential, and we should be working. Now, if you're not here and not working, there's no voice for your district, and that's what matters. It matters to our Constitution. It matters to our institution, and it matters for all those who come after us, because that's exactly what you're talking about, that they would change the constitutional behavior. If you look Article 1, Section 3, 4 or 5, they believe Congress should meet.

How does this vote by proxy, would it become the new normal for Congress? and if so, how would that happen? Well, right now they say it's only during COVID, but I believe it will just continue on. We watch that time and again because it empowers the speaker more power. That's what she craves the most. When it comes to proxy voting,

are there security risks involved too for the House if everything were to move online? Big security. If 20 people are given all the power, how does that person that gave their proxy away know if the bill changed or amendment was brought up or others? Just those 20 people could do that.

decide whatever happens. Looking at things from just a larger perspective regarding the bill, the latest coronavirus bill that was passed, what was your perspective on that bill as a whole proxy voting aside? Well, the bill did not reflect what the country needed or desired because it never went through committee. It was written just by Nancy Pelosi. And the main elements of the bill were things that the Democrats from the socialist wing of the party have been trying to pass all year long before COVID ever came through. You look at the, Democrats' most important bill, H.R. 1, that deal was federalizing the election, taking the power away from states. Will they put that in the bill? Releasing people from prisons. That's something that

they've been trying to do some quite time. Prioritizing illegal immigrants, making sure they're receiving money instead of Americans themselves. That was in the bill as well. So if you watch, the number of these bills had already passed by the Democrats, and that's what they'd hope to make. remember what the number three Democrat Jim Clyburn said to all the conference. He believes COVID is a perfect time to restructure government in their view. You've got freshman congresswomen who loved the idea that when the price of oil drops so hard that people are losing their job, they said they loved it. They believed that they shouldn't pass the bill when we were putting forth money for small businesses because they believed COVID gave them a leverage to actually restructure government, much like the majority. whip set. And then we had Joe Biden saying the exact same thing. They don't look at COVID as an

opportunity to solve a virus and a concern for all of America. They look at it as an opportunity to restructure government in a more socialist liberal view. So in light of that, Congress McCarthy, lastly, how do you think the U.S. should be dealing with COVID right now and what the House's role is in addressing COVID? Well, the first thing we should do is make sure the $3 trillion we already pass gets implemented out there. The next thing we should do is make sure from the antibodies and the vaccines have all that they need to continue moving forward. We should not be focusing on cannabis or election law, our prisoners, or others. We should focus on what keeps Americans safe.

The virus is here. We did not invite it. We did not ask for it. But we will defeat it together if we work together. But the idea of what the Democrats have done, using this as an opportunity to restructure Congress, so just four and a half percent of Congress can do. decide what bill gets passed in others, instead of have a reflection of the nation themselves, that everybody has a voice in their government.

But this is shutting it down, just why they keep government shut down itself. Instead of Congress itself should be working because we are essential. What does that say to every truck driver that brings the food in or to the doctors or the dispatchers? But Congress won't work, but they will. Well, Congressman McCarthy, thank you so much for unpacking this issue. us and for joining us on the Daily Signal podcast. Well, thank you so much. And that'll do it for today's episode.

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